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Deriaz's Armory (Cubone and Apple - 4/12)
page 10

Yeah, I know what you mean about the WIP face. I wound up sitting there for about 5 minutes thinking, “Well, damn. I have to mush this around now. . . But it looks so nice. . .” I’ll see if I can bring that sort of element back in to future things.
There are a couple highlights scattered around, but I think I made them way too tiny and definitely not strong enough. Looking at it again, I think I was getting too comfortable at that extreme zoom, so something “large” in there was actually pretty miniscule in reality. See: Top of his chest crest highlight. I’ll keep it noted for the future, as I think I want to move on from this guy for now (he’s gotten pretty much 90% of my attention these past few nights), though.
I’ll have to find some good references of secondary/diffused light and how it works on objects. I admit, I think it’s a trend in literally everything I’ve ever drawn that there’s a singular light direction. I could definitely use that practice, now that you mention it.
Thank you, as always! :)

These aren’t excellent examples, but they were handy to grab: The artists who did the Kongai art [used](http://cdn4.kongregate.com/assets/challenges/cards/art/card3.jpg) it [a lot.](http://cdn3.kongregate.com/assets/challenges/cards/art/card2.jpg) You’ll see a main light coming from the characters’ faces, then a blue/grey light coming from the bottom opposite side. A similar tactic is very commonly used in film and photography where you set a diffused light to catch the edge of someone’s head/shoulders/etc and make their figure pop.

Summer classes are kicking my ass, so I haven’t had much time to work on the various projects I have going. But I’m still sketching while on the bus, and setting aside time each night before bed to get more work done.
Already at mid-terms of those classes, though, so I’m almost home free. Damn if mixing paint traditionally isn’t the hardest thing. I’m so bad at it compared to the rest of my class. I’ve learned a bunch, though, but it’s so demoralizing. . .
Anyways, this is a kind of meh doodle (~an hour) that I did on the bus and a tiny bit of refinement at home. No reference or anything, so I’m sure there’s a million problems with it, but for a “bleh” doodle, I guess I’m happy with it. Tentatively named “Korvaan”.
(I also just want to note quickly, since a few people around here have poked me regarding it: Commissions. I removed the info on the first page, if it wasn’t seen. Once summer classes are over, I have a bit of a “game” planned for taking on commissions that could potentially result in free art for people. But I won’t get into that right now.)
![](http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/146/7/4/there __s_a_long_road__ by_deriaz-d518h48.png)
Enjoy. As always, feel free to tear into it.

Art dump time! Gonna show you a self-portrait done for a class final, some figure painting studies from same class, a doodle, and then a finished drawing.
First up, self-portrait. I showed this to rawismojo, so I know of some of the problems like the easel being too bright and the strokes being a bit too outline-y. At the same time, I’ve never worked with any sort of paint in my life, so I think for how it went, it went okay. Could be a lot better, but I only just started grasping how to mix color near the end of the course (I’m horrid with color), so. . . Yeah. Will have to teach myself a bit in the downtime between painting courses.
![](http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/179/a/8/self_portrait_june_2012_by_deriaz-d556xft.png)
* * *
Second are some figure paintings. Black and white acrylic on Mayfair paper, 1 hour each. People seemed to like the proportions and the form/volume, but I’m not sure how I feel about how the paint ended up applying. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. For studies, I think they went okay.
Just to be safe, I’m leaving this one as a click-through to Deviantart, where you’ll need to click past a warning. I would say there’s nothing graphic in these, but better safe than sorry.
[http://deriaz.deviantart.com/art/Figure-Painting-Studies-1-Hour-Per-311052825](http://deriaz.deviantart.com/art/Figure-Painting-Studies-1-Hour-Per-311052825)
* * *
Bus doodles! The bus ride that I take to NSCAD from where I live, and vice versa, is about an hour to an hour and a half. So sometimes, I doodle. Here’s two of them: A finished Turian Thief, and a bust of a Turian. I like the bust especially, since the bumpy roads the bus takes makes for some interesting shading things to happen. The left one feels like it has a lot more energy/love than the right one.
![](http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/179/5/2/double_dose_of_bus_doodles_by_deriaz-d556y9z.png)
* * *
Finally, a finished piece, a Mass Effect battle. (I know, I know, too many Turians. but i wuv turians. dey look like burds.) I think the shading on the Brute, the Human, and the Turian came out decently. But when I added in a background of some kind, I think I fudged everything up and made it all sloppy and horrible. Blargh. Oh well. Lesson learned. Maybe a bit dark as well, but at the same time, maybe the value range is fine? Who knows.
![](http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/179/4/a/battle_by_deriaz-d556ydv.png)
* * *
As always, feel free to tear into them. Sorry to your bandwidth! Let me know if I should just make these click-throughs due to four in one post.

There sure is a lot of stuff I like about your technique. There’s also “easy” stuff I think could be improved upon.
OPPORTUNITY
I’d like to see more of a focus on the central elements of your compositions. There seems to be a bit of a disregard for including things that aren’t really important. If it’s a concept, focus on the ideas of the concept that are important. If it’s a character, identify the key characteristics and emphasize those. If it’s a setting, put attention on the stuff that establishes that setting. Everything else, reduce.
I’d like to see a broader range of value… darker darks, particularly. I think you could probably move away from the graphite and get into some pen work. It will help you commit to your lines. When you commit, your drawings will take on an air of authority and confidence. (Notice in the last drawing above how dark you get in the beast? That’s awesome. It feels like you knew what you wanted to draw. In the places you weren’t sure, you get sort of tentative.)
STRENGTHS
I like your taste in value and color. Not sure if you intended it, but your self portrait is a terrific example of a complimentary color scheme… blues and oranges (tans/browns). I’m not so sure on you choking up on your brush like that, but whatever.
I sure do want to see some super loose gestural studies. I think your drawings only struggle when you get too self-critical. I want to see some relaxed, expressive pieces… like, “f\*ck it, it sort of looks like this!”
Also, another way of “phoning in” the unimportant stuff is to use a narrow depth of field or atmospheric perspective. The two techniques are similar. In the former, the background, (and sometimes the foreground), are blurred out so that only your key figure or elements have detail. In the latter, the background gets progressively lighter and fainter. (Atmospheric perspective is mostly used in big landscapes and not really applicable to indoor settings except if it’s foggy or smokey.)

Hmm. I don’t know if I’m following when you mean central elements. So for a character as an example, if the key point of a character is a mask, make the mask super detailed and perfect, and, say, his feet can be super quick and messy and are more there to serve as guidelines rather than focal points? If I’m following that correctly, that is. If so, I’ll see what I can do. Sounds like it could help a lot.
Need to go out and re-purchase a good range of pencils. I agree, I definitely need to push my darks further. I think I’ve finally started to get comfortable in range (the fourth image, I think, shows it a bit more than the others), but now I need to dive in. So I’ll go buy another 8B or something, really get down and dirty with them in the future.
The color scheme of the self-portrait was completely unintended. After about 4 hours someone commented on it, and I figured, “Well, I did it. Screw it, let’s run with it,” and I wound up with that. And yeah, I’m terrible with choking up on brushes. I’m a terrible person and have even been so bad as to be so choked up that my hand rubs against the painting. fffffffffffffff— not a good habit.
I’ve been doing some gestural studies of color and stuff every once in a while during the nights before I go to bed. A lot of them are. . . Well, they’re bad and I don’t really get anywhere because I don’t quite know what I’m doing. But I’ll put some up in the future if I remember to. I agree with wanting to get more relaxed, as well — you would cry if you looked at my sketchbooks with how often I’ll have something started, only to draw a heavy, dark X over it and move on because I didn’t draw it “perfect” right from the get-go. My roommate even says I need to stop doing that, and I agree. :/ It’s also, possibly, why I don’t upload here as often, because I wind up with very little things “complete”. That’s no excuse, though. Gotta stop.
I’d love to work some more on depth of field or atmosphere perspective. I don’t do environments pretty much at all, so I’d love to take the opportunity to start doing them. I’ve collected a variety of photos and references to start practicing with, so I’ll make a note alongside the gestural stuff of things to upload in the future for you and others to look at and critique.
Thank you! That’s exactly the kind of stuff I like to hear, so I have a good idea of what I should be aiming for. Much appreciated, pete. \<3

So, let’s say you’re doing a mask. There are **lots** of ways to draw the viewer’s eye to where you want it, (and away from where you don’t). Whenever you draw something, you must have an idea of what you’re drawing. Sometimes it might change when you’re partway through but you still have intention.
You start off (say) wanting to draw a cool space marine, so you throw him in an action pose. Then you decide he should be fighting something, so you put in a monster/villain. Then you need scenery, so you put them in the hallway of a space station. You’ve navigated three different intentions:
•&nbsp;Space Marine (hero)
•&nbsp;Space Villain
•&nbsp;Environment
Each intention relies on tools you use as an artist to convey the story. How do you make the Space Marine seem like a good guy? How do you make the villain seem like a bad guy? How do you dress up the hallway to make it seem futuristic?
Even though you might address these questions on an intuitive level… (space guns look like this, bad guys have lots of spiky bits and drip liquid, space stations have lots of weird angular forms)… the more **intentional** and **thoughtful** you can be with these answers, the stronger of an artist you will become.
One of the most gifted and prolific graphite artists I’ve had the pleasure of working with is Arnie Swekel. Below is an example of one of his pieces that I would consider sub-par. (It was difficult to find one.) I used one that had some serious flaws to demonstrate that even when it’s not very good, it’s still good. Here’s why:
•&nbsp;Good use of atmospheric perspective to put the attention where it belongs, (in the foreground).
•&nbsp;No question who the subjects are. Look at the line weights he uses to contour his subjects.
•&nbsp;Eye contact with the viewer to add connection… the reader is there, at eye level. This creates a more intimate encounter. You’re “with” these people.
•&nbsp;Good foreground, midground, and background depths… reinforced by the architectural perspective.
• Look at his physiology. The people are pretty bad. (Sorry, Arnie!) There’s not a lot of texture going on when you really inspect it. In fact, it’s a pretty simple drawing overall… it just _looks_ complex. It works because he’s relying on a good foundation of illustrative “trickery.” It’s thoughtful.
![](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y278/Gygaxxx/gallery/swekel_portalroom_full.jpg)

Ack! Didn’t see you posted again, Pete. My bad!
I think I’m understanding what you’re meaning, especially with the picture to accompany it. The atmospheric is something I think I could practice first alongside landscapes/backgrounds, which I’m hoping to do next once I finish this guy’s Turian. That would probably be the biggest boost to the strength of my drawings? At least, in my opinion. I could be wrong. I’m not sure if I still understand what you mean by “trickery”, but it seems like something that may just come over time. So I’ll keep at it, but I’ve got that picture saved. I’ll keep on referencing it, so I remember.
* * *
Two things I wanted to post today. One, a digital painting in SAI, which is a program I’m really quickly falling in love with. The second, a sketch dump, because possibly getting feedback on simple doodles, whether they’re good or absolutely terrible is good no matter what way you slice it. So I’m going to brave the storm if they’re terrible, and show them. First, though, the painting.
While working alongside the Turian, I wanted a secondary painting so I would be able to mess around with brushes and the various sliders, see how the blending worked at various levels, the sizes and how they affected how the color was applied, etc. I also took it as an opportunity to try what rawismojo has told me in the past, the secondary highlights. I’m a bit pleased with how it came out. It could be better, but for being lineless AND digital with the experience I have, I think it’s a good foothold. Definitely a jump up from that old Discord at the start of the year. But I might not be seeing any big problems.
This image is meant to be displayed at 100×100, so I’ll resize it just below the bigger size.
![](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/188/d/f/make_you_say ____oh__ my ____ by_deriaz-d56bxst.png)
![](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/188/d/f/make_you_say ____oh__ my ____ by_deriaz-d56bxst.png)
EDIT: Turns out it’s a decent Kong avatar too. Woo~ Might use it for a bit. But I do like my Warforged, too.
* * *
A sketch dump is the second one. Like I said above, good or bad, these are doodles, and I don’t mind them still getting feedback. What I’ve been doing is using my lectures as ways to draw, but not allow myself to get worried with how much time has passed. So I tend to keep at them and playing with them like a gesture. But if the lecture ends and my doodle isn’t done, tough luck (see: Discord on the right). I won’t allow myself to go back (though, that Discord felt like something good was about to happen. Maybe he will be the only exception). From the upload, my tiny comments on each:
Upper left: Everyone was drinking coffee, as it was the first day of class. I don’t have the money for coffee, nor do I like it much, so I figured I would just sketch someone drinking coffee. Wound up being Korvaan. Whoops.
Bottom left: This was supposed to be Deriaz looking down at something, but it wound up being, uh. . . Well, whatever it is. It’s so damn derpy. Need posing practice.
Middle top: Mass Effect doodles. That day, I decided I wanted to get as many doodles done as possible, so none of those are more than ~3 minutes at most. I liked a bit of the energy/markings in them, so I tossed them into the bunch.
Bottom middle: Spidermanspidermanspiderman. Mostly done for some shading experiments. Came out pretty. . . Good? Maybe? Not sure.
Right: Discord from that pony show. The lecture ended early, so I didn’t get too far with him. But the linework was seeming interesting to me, as well as the expression. So I tossed it in. I _might_ make an exception and go back to him later, just because I feel like something good was about to happen.
![](http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/188/0/9/psych_culture_sketch_dump_1_by_deriaz-d56c48d.png)
* * *
Enjoy~

> *Originally posted by **[TheWhiteAngel](/forums/5/topics/98263?page=10#posts-6017583):***
>
> I love it! You seem to have gotten colouring down so epicly. I hope you do so well with your characters. :)
Thanks! I owe a bunch to raw, to be honest, for telling me to just keep going and ignore the hate I was having towards my own stuff. I’m enjoying color a lot more, now — going to have to keep working in it, because it’s fun. :D

Oh, by “trickery” I mean those easy techniques that aren’t difficult to master but seem to improve things. They’re cheap tricks… easy and fun, but probably shouldn’t be used all the time. If you take a look at some of my portraits and stuff, you’ll see that I give a lot of my stuff a thick contour outline. This is “trickery.”
Your sketches are great. I see all sorts of great stuff there. I like it when you loosen up. Maybe when you get a new sketchbook, first thing you can do is draw a big sloppy X across the first page… then just draw loose.
Your insect avatar is cool. My only criticism, (aside from wanting to see more of it), is to be careful with perfect black in “photorealistic” treatments. If you use black, make sure that where black shows up is where you absolutely want the darkest part of the illustration to be. On your insect, my eye gets snagged on the sharp black shadow right in the middle of the composition. By contrast, (literally and figuratively), the antennae seem soft and nondescript.
I can see some of the narrow depth of field stuff going on.

I used to do some thicker contours, but profs told me I “destroyed” good line work by doing that. Maybe I’ll have to go back and claim to do things my way, try and find a nice middle ground.
I’ve stopped doing the big X thing! . . . Except now I end up erasing over and over until I can get something I like started. Okay, so, not a huge step forward. . . But it’s not a big sloppy X! Right? Heh.
I completely forgot the “avoid black if you can” rule. Ack! I ended up poking around a bit, and didn’t even stop to think where the color was sitting. I think at the tiny size it’s meant to be displayed at, I can simply file that away in my memory as a “whoops” and something to avoid for the future. I can’t see fixing it making too big a difference at 100×100 pixels. But for the 700×700 it’s sitting at there, yeah, I can see that problem.
I was trying to keep the field of view, or at least the focus, on the eyes, yeah. (Are those different things, FOV and focus? Or are they the same? I’m struggling to remember my intro Photo class, the only class that has even covered stuff like that. Heh.) I mean, I don’t know if I’m doing it correctly yet since I obviously don’t have much experience with it, but I did like the contrast between the eyes and the antennae, one being detailed and the other being nice and soft. I’ll have to mess with it again in another setting, though, since I’m not 100% on the concept.
Thanks! I’ll toss up another sketch pile this weekend. I’d like to keep this up for the 4-ish weeks my Psych class runs, if not longer. I have another couple things I’m looking forward to getting feedback on, like back-lighting, another “different” (to me) pose, and some toying with linework/shading again. I’ll save it all for Friday/Saturday when I compile it all like this again.

Another sketch dump thingy. Yeaaaaah~ Think I just depressed myself by hopping around art sites before uploading this because I feel like shit about them. I honestly can’t tell if I’ve gotten any better or worse over time when compared to other people. Shitty feeling. Ugh.
Another copy-paste of what I said on dA/FA for my thoughts on each of these:
Round 2, let’s go. Once again, even though a lot of these are just screwy little doodles, they’re welcome to be critiqued just as equally as any other thing I do. Have at it, if you want. If you want to suggest something for me to doodle during classes, feel free as well. Going through them again, for my thoughts on each:
Upper left: Discord. Roommate thought I should break the rules just once if I liked the lines. So I did. Tried some backlighting. Forgot the ambient lighting until the lecture was just about to end. Ugh. Oh well. Looks okay.
Top middle: Blitzcrank, League of Legends. Completely messed up perspective, didn’t notice until the end. But had some neat shading things going on, I thought.
Upper right: Jax, League of Legends. Trying out something with linework for drawing torn/frayed clothing. Instead of a solid line, varying tiny scratches. It’s. . . Well, I don’t know. It has a nice effect, but I don’t know if it’s too distracting.
Middle: A conversation in Dungeons and Dragons Online about Halflings riding Warforged mounts. So it’s supposed to be my friend Nklos riding Deriaz, with Der saying “I hate you.” and Nklos saying, “I know. Now mush!” Except I screwed up everything. There’s an example of one I hate for you. Hah.
Middle right: TGIF. Just a fun little doodle of Korvaan to celebrate the week ending. Except then I realized I still have two and a half weeks of at least Psych left, so, uh, maybe I’m celebrating a bit too soon. Just tossing it up because Korvaan, I guess.
Bottom left: Oh my god, why is it so hot outside. The attic my Culture class happens in was cooking on Monday. So I drew some dragon-looking guy relaxing on a beach. Never done that perspective much. Think I obliterated him neck and his arms look funky. But it looks nice, I guess.
Bottom right: Kind of the “Scraps” of the week. More linework practice, because I’d like to get something like Joe Mad’s linework and how dynamic it is, while still trying to keep something of my own. So, uh, there’s that guy. And then some quick stick men on the side because I don’t know why.
![](http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/195/a/b/i_guess_i_was_skeptical __p_c_sketch_dump_2__ by_deriaz-d577rpr.png)

> *Originally posted by **[papplejacks](/forums/5/topics/98263?page=10#posts-6087144):***
>
> idk i think tht blitzcrank is pretty sweet
I’m assuming you mean the one posted last week? Yeah, he’s got some nice shading going on in my eyes, but oh man, what I wouldn’t give to have noticed that weird angled circle on his chest. Makes it all a bit weaker, and it’s a bit of a shame. :\< Ah well.
Thanks!
* * *
More sketchy stuff. Woo, I’m just copy-paste as usual. Not much to say that I didn’t say in the dA/FA description.
Round 3. Half a week to go in Psych, and then it’s just Culture class for the rest of the summer. But I should ask: Do you guys like seeing these pencil things, and uploading them, though maybe not as often? I was thinking, once my summer becomes more relaxed after this Wednesday, to start doing color studies and backgrounds and stuff. That might be fun. Anyways, the usual run-through:
Top left: Pyro. Hudda hudda. Big lecture that day, so I rushed through it a bit, but I had plenty of room at the end that meant I could have slowed down. Oh well. The only decent sketch from that day.
Top right: I don’t know what it was supposed to start as, but it ended up with Rocrin sitting on. . . Some guard bug guy. I have no idea. I started playing with my pens again since I was bored and the lecture that day was stuff I knew. I should play with them more often.
Bottom left: Bunch of random thoughts mushed together. Meh. That’s usually how my sketches fall together, though for you guys I’ve tried to make them look a bit nicer and sit on their own so their easier to present. But I thought it’d be nice to show something kind of busy. Mixed feelings on them all.
Bottom middle: Have you guys seen the new Jax default skin art in League of Legends, if you play? [http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr\_m73aq4bNDI1rtaby4o1\_1280.jpg](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m73aq4bNDI1rtaby4o1_1280.jpg) Look at that. UGGGGH SO GOOD. I had to draw more Jax after seeing it. Didn’t get as far as I’d like, but again, I really should consider using my pens more, I think. But gods, I really hope I can get to that level of quality some day. SO GOOOOOOOOD.
Bottom right: Naga or something. I don’t really know. Came out kinda silly. I like him, but there’s some glaringly large problems with him that I didn’t notice right away. Whoops.
![](https://d.facdn.net/art/deriaz/1342806339.deriaz_sketchdump072012s.png)
And that’s it for this week. Go nuts.

I’d love to see you work with more ink. The bottom middle looks so awesome. You’re really getting a good handle on your line fidelity with your ink that really pulls the illustration out. I really like the horned guy on the bottom left, too. It has a slight sketchiness quality that looks really awesome that’s absent from a lot of your other pencil sketches.
Really love these sketch dumps.

> *Originally posted by **[rawismojo](/forums/5/topics/98263?page=10#posts-6087697):***
>
> I’d love to see you work with more ink. The bottom middle looks so awesome. You’re really getting a good handle on your line fidelity with your ink that really pulls the illustration out. I really like the horned guy on the bottom left, too. It has a slight sketchiness quality that looks really awesome that’s absent from a lot of your other pencil sketches.
>
> Really love these sketch dumps.
Thanks! I’ll keep messing with ink and stuff on the side, then — I’ve gotten mixed answers on if I should keep uploading these are not. You and a few others seem to enjoy them, but then others have said they wish I would do more “finished” things. I’ll have to find a good middle ground.
I don’t know if I agree with you on the line fidelity, though. I feel like I’m still not getting it. Mostly, I’m having fun with it, but in a [“I have no idea what I’m doing”](http://i.imgur.com/R6UUh.jpg) sort of way. . . :S I feel like my linework in all of this is still kind of flat and bleh.
As for the horned guy/lady/thing, what do you mean with “sketchiness”? I guess I’m confused ‘cause I thought all of my stuff was pretty sketchy and average, but if there’s something special in that, I don’t know that I’m seeing it. :x
Not to say I don’t think any of this stuff looks nice. Just. . . To me, personally, I don’t know if I’m understanding what I’m doing yet. Which is somewhat frustrating after a few years of this. Heh. But maybe I’ll never know, and I’ll just have to deal. ;P
Thanks again!
* * *
> *Originally posted by **[papplejacks](/forums/5/topics/98263?page=10#posts-6087767):***
>
> yea i love jax. jaxis one of my fav champs in league of legends. i think all your drawings are good
(Ninja edit because we replied at the same time! Sort of.)
\<3 Jax. He took over as my main, which was, predictably, Blitzcrank for the longest time. There’s just so much Jax can do and I feel like his skill cap is so high I may never reach it. He’s such a blast to play. And thanks!
* * *
(Also, in the description, I actually put the Jax link I meant to there. Copy-paste ended up deleting the link. You can now actually see the ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS OH MY GOD UGGGGGGGGH art that Riot has made for Jax.)

> *Originally posted by **[papplejacks](/forums/5/topics/98263?page=10#posts-6088185):***
>
> yea he is a great champ. definatly in my top 3 favs. cant wait for more of your work. you should post your blitz and jax on the league of legends forums. people there will enjoy it.
I uploaded a Blitzcrank there about 2 years ago, actually. The same Blitzcrank at the start of this thread, now that I realize, but with color. It got a few nice replies, and Fruitstrike, one of the devs, liked it enough that I mailed it to him. He said he had it pinned in his work space, but I’m guessing it’s been replaced by now by much, much better works, since 2 years ago I didn’t really know what I was doing. (And hell, I still don’t. Heh.) Raw’s color is much better, though. Look at that, and don’t look up mine. You’ll save yourself a headache. Lol.
I try to stay away from the League community now, though. As much as I like the game and I still play it a lot with friends, the forums and the Reddit community (Well, most of Reddit as a whole, really, except for a few various subs) are toxic and horrible. I don’t like the atmosphere. As much as I would like to maybe submit something there again to show to others, I definitely need to improve by leaps and bounds before the feedback I’d like to get will outweigh the attitude of the place. :(

Deriaz, as far as your loose pencil vignettes are concerned, everyone can see a SOLID foundation of drawing skills there. There’s absolutely no question, as far as I’m concerned, that if you keep drawing every day… OCD-style… you’ll be within striking distance of professional illustrators.
Some of your anatomies are terrific, then there are some that are so careless, it makes me wonder where your eyes are. The range of quality in your work is so vast, it’s hard to know what your “level of acceptance” is in your own work. That will come with artistic maturity, and I’m confident that you’re well on your way. I _know_ that if you look back at these drawings in a year, you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come.
I’d encourage you to do three things, (not that you should listen… it’s just good advice for all artists):
•&nbsp;Draw more from life. It will help you learn to see things more carefully.
•&nbsp;Draw more architectural forms. It will help you learn how to build mass in your illustrations.
•&nbsp;Draw less interpretations of other peoples’ creative works. Those are THEIR ideas; you have your own that need exercise.

Oh, aside from smaller communities like this, I’d avoid getting any feedback from places like Deviant, Reddit, and so on. That’s where children go to bully each other. There’s a powerful community of “real” artists online that would welcome your participation.
My friend Jon has a small blog that you might like. He’s a very nice, generous guy that loves helping up-and-coming artists learn how to pursue a career in fantasy illustration.
[http://theartorder.com/](http://theartorder.com/)

Which ones seem careless to you? I’m asking honestly, and I’m not doubting your opinion — I honestly can’t tell them apart within my own stuff, and that’s terrible. I’m more inclined to think that the anatomies that look “terrific” were beginner’s luck. So really, my “level of acceptance” is, at the current moment, somewhere around the vicinity of “Well, it doesn’t look like Japanese anime or some shit, so it’s a start.”
I don’t know what I’m wanting at this point. I feel like I’m having a mid-life crisis with my art where I’m finding amazing realistic drawings and I’m like, “Man, I wanna do that.” And then I find crazy proportioned but infinitely detailed things and I’m like, “Man, I wanna do THAT.” That might be why my quality is all over the place. :( And believe me, if I can be openly honest here, I hate myself for it. With everything I’ve posted, even if I say, “Oh, I like it,” I’ll be honest: Deep down, I’m disgusted with it, because I know it can be better. But I don’t know how to _get_ there.
For the three points:
1) I’m currently trying to assemble a collection of life and nude figures that I can draw from, but I’m struggling to be able to find anything. I’d like to draw more from life, but NSCAD has pretty much stopped being useful, as the poses are always the same and I can’t find anything new. And if I want some crazy angled figure to draw from on the internet, I don’t know how to find it. . . So I feel like I’m stuck, because I have nothing to draw from that will challenge me. Which isn’t really an excuse NOT to draw from it, but there it is, I guess.
2) I was thinking of doing stuff like that after these sketch dumps. That’s why I asked if people wanted me to keep doing these or do color studies — I was thinking doing forests, maybe some city-scapes, monuments, etc. would help. If you think I should do architectural things, I’ll start doing them then.
3) I am so bad at getting my ideas down on paper, it’s pathetic. The horn-headed sketch in the bottom left of that most recent sketch dump? That was meant to be some sort of beast thing. And then I screwed it up enough that I just went, “Fine, it’ll be a person. Whatever.” I don’t know how I’m supposed to draw my own ideas when I’m physically unable to do so. . .
For communities, what are some other ones beyond your friend’s blog? I’ve been searching, and I haven’t found one that looks like it will suit me. I’ve looked around at your friend’s blog, as well as ConceptArt.org, and I’m pretty much coming to the same conclusion as I have had with ConceptArt — I’m nowhere near good enough to be there. Even if they’re wanting to teach, I feel like I absolutely _cannot_ show up on a site like that when I making the stuff that I am. All it would do is get me laughed at when all I really want is to learn. But then I have the problem that no one on other sites comments beyond “Oh, this looks nice.”, so I’m at a loss of what I’m supposed to be doing, because I feel like I’m stuck in limbo. Like, do I suck it up and hope for the best, or just keep doing what I’m doing and getting help from a very select group of people?
Maybe this is a bit ranty, but after trying to learn for nearly 6 years and having you, Raw, and a few other people around the net being the only people who genuinely want to help me learn. . . It’s almost infuriating because I feel like I’m letting people down because I’m not going anywhere. My stuff makes me feel like it hasn’t progressed in YEARS, even though I’m sitting here attending a college. Bleh.
EDIT: Went on a deletion spree around the net of things posted years and years ago that really shouldn’t see the light of day much anymore. That feels a bit better. Stress-relieving.

While I’m here, I may as well update with something complete. On other sites I’ve said I’m “hesitantly optimistic”. Truth here is, I’m not thrilled about this. I liked how it started, but at this point, it feels stiff and all over the place. The lighting is pretty bad, the colors are bleh (what few there are), and. . . It’s just a mess, I feel like. I really have no idea what I’m doing with digital stuff. I need to do those studies and pronto.
Was a request for someone, so that’s why it’s another Turian. Last one, I promise. Onto color/architecture/landscape/whatever studies. I might keep them all digital so I can practice more in that realm. Think that’s where I need the most work, since you guys and others seem to feel my pencilwork is strong enough, even if the anatomy and stuff might not be the greatest.
![](http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/203/9/5/xerant_d__kor_by_deriaz-d589bl3.png)

I think it’s a very good digital piece, dude. The only thing I can say is the lines are a bit sketchy, but the colouring and lighting seems fine to me. If you just keep on doing stuff, I’m sure you’ll not doubt your own skills as much. And if you’re unsure about what you’re doing with digital stuff, there’s loads of good tutorials on Photoshop and whatnot on YouTube, or maybe I’m reading that wrong.